The present invention relates to a printable form, and more particularly, to a form having a wristband accompanied by a plurality of detachable labels which may be printed with information in a single pass through a printer.
It is a common practice in hospitals to identify patients with a bracelet or band containing the patient's name or other identification information. The band is generally secured around the wrist of a patient so that hospital personnel can properly identify the patient during his stay. However, while this has been an effective method of identifying patients, many hospitals have had problems correlating patient information on specimens, drug prescriptions, physician's orders, etc. Clerical errors in the handling of such routine matters can result in the dispensing of the wrong medicine or treatment to a patient.
Several attempts have been made to improve the correlation of patient information to various hospital forms. For example, Falla, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,947 teach a pre-packaged patient identification kit which includes a wristband, a specimen container, and a label for attachment to a patient's record, all of which have been provided with identical patient information. Weichselbaum et el, U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,112, teach a patient identification system in which an identification bracelet secured to a patient is used to dispense a series of tags which are magnetically coded with patient information. However, this method requires the use of a tag reader as well as circuitry which is capable of decoding the information on the tag. Accordingly, while such methods may provide an effective means of identifying a patient for various purposes, such methods are complex and difficult to implement.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for an identification system which includes a wristband as well as an accompanying series of labels or tags which can be efficiently provided with correlating identification information, and which can be easily dispensed and used for a variety of applications.